Monday, April 30, 2007

There's a lot going on and a lot to do out in the garden these days. The broccoli was looking a little wilted during its first full day out from in under the cloches so I decided to do a little watering.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

We have a couple of specimens growing along the edge of the woods north of the house.

Black haw is usually grown as a large, upright, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub with an irregular crown, but it also may be grown as a small, single trunk tree. As a shrub, it typically grows 12-15' tall with a spread of 6-12', but as a tree may reach a height of 30'. Commonly occurs in moist woods, thickets and on streambanks. Non-fragrant white flowers in flat-topped cymes (to 4.5" diameter) appear in spring. Flowers give way in autumn to blue-black, berry-like drupes which often persist into winter and are quite attractive to birds and wildlife. Ovate, finely toothed, glossy dark green leaves (to 4" long) turn attractive shades of red and purple in fall. Fruits are edible and may be eaten off the bush when ripe or used in jams and preserves. Common name refers to the purported similarity of this plant to hawthorns (sometimes commonly called red haws), though hawthorns are in a different family.

The potatoes are now covered with grass clippings and mowed leaves. Soon the plants will be poking back up through the mulch again, but the mulch will help keep them moist and give the developing potatoes a place to grow without burying themselves so far in the ground.

Ozark BeautyThe first batch of new strawberries Jo planted earlier this spring didn't do so well. About two-thirds of them died. I think we let them get too dry. So, Jo picked up some berry plants in town and we'll try again. Most of these transplants are larger than the ones that have been growing in the bed for a month. Some even have fruit that is almost ripe.

An aptly-named species: the adult has a doubly-toothed band on its forewing, the larva has doubly-toothed humps on its back, and the food plant (elm) has doubly-toothed leaf edges. This moth ranges from Nova Scotia south to Florida and west to Texas.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Carpenter bees are sometime mistaken for bumble bees since they are about the same size and shape. However, the abdomen of bumble bees is covered with coarse, yellow hairs. Carpenter bees have a hairless, black and shiny abdomen.

After mating the female prepares a nest. If she is constructing a new nest, she uses her strong jaws to tunnel into wood and excavate a gallery where she will lay her eggs. Often the female carpenter been will simply refurbish and/or add to an existing tunnel system. While the female is doing all the work, the male buzzes about noisily, aggressively protecting the nesting area from all intruders. However, the male is all buzz and no sting because only the female has a stinger.Although they tunnel into wood, carpenter bees do not eat it. Like all other bees, they are nectar feeders and depend upon flowers for their food. Because these large, short-tongued bees cannot get to the nectar in many trumpet shaped flowers, they often engage in a practice called "nectar robbing". That is, they cut into the stem right behind the flower and extract the nectar from there.

The black walnut tree leaves and flowers were looking good before our freeze a couple of weeks ago. Two nights with temperatures in the middle twenties did them in -- completely.

How badly a tree's leaves were damaged seemed to depend upon its stage of new leaf growth. Those whose leaves had been on for a little while faired okay. Sweetgums show little damage. Hickory, black walnut and red oak got hit the hardest, losing all their new leaves and, even worse, flowers. The hickory began recovering quickest, with new leaf buds erupting only a few days after the freeze. I'm just now beginning to see a few new leaf buds on the red oak and walnuts.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Pussy toes is another wildflower that thrives in less than prime growing conditions, growing well in rocky, disturbed and run down areas. It is a member of the aster family. Some think the flower clusters resemble a cat's paw and that is the reason for the common name of "pussy toes". A photo from Illinois Natural History Survey illustrates the resemblance better than mine. When the pussy toes' seeds are mature, they are carried away by the wind.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Finally we have something planted in the garden besides strawberries! Jo got the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage seedlings she'd started transplanted into the garden while I mowed the garden area trying to cut down on the ticks, chiggers and snakes she had to deal with while planting.

Yes, we are running behind schedule, but that's normal for us. Besides, had we gotten everything planted, we would have probably lost most of it the the hard freeze we experience a little over a week ago.

We did an art show in St. Louis the last weekend in March. Rain threatened all day Saturday but waited until we were on the way back to the motel after the show closed before letting loose with a heavy thundershower. (Fortunately, this was an indoor show so we didn't have to worry about our booths getting blown away.) After the storm dumped it's heavy rain, the skies began clearing again before sunset.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Unlike most of our wildflowers, Bird's Foot Violet prefers rocky and/or dry woods, slopes and ridges. It's growing in and along the old road around the bench, almost back to the house on our routine afternoon walk loop.

There are two varieties of this violet other than the one pictured above. One has two petals that are much darker purple and is often called a Pansy Violet. Here, those bloomed a little earlier in the spring. Another variety is white, but we haven't discovered any of those on our place. Like all violets, Bird's Foot can hybridize easily in the wild. Unlike most violets, Bird's Foot has no cleistogamous flowers, making it impossible for this species to self-pollinate.

Cleistogamous flowers are flowers that do not open and are self pollinated. Cleistogamy insures that a plant produces seeds, even if conditions are unfavorable for wind or insect pollination. Cleistogamy occurs in many different and unrelated plant families, including violets (Violaceae), rushes (Juncaceae) and grasses (Poaceae).

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Phlox (Phlox divaricata) is by far our most common woodland wildflower during the spring, both in terms of quantity and length of bloom. Blue Wood Phlox have already been blooming for three or four weeks.

According to the ID guides I found online, the white phlox below is the same genus and species. The white variety is much less common, and the plants that I've found are growing as individuals, not in the clusters common to Blue Wood Phlox.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Both purple and yellow wood sorrel are found here, though yellow is more common. Some people like to use wood sorrel as a salad garnish because of it's sour taste, but it should be eaten in moderation if at all. The leaves and stem contain oxalic acid which can cause kidney damage.

This cluster of wood sorrel we found growing on a bluff rock top beside the path down from Jerry Joe's pasture north of our place.

Friday, April 06, 2007

Most of the common blue violets we have are dark purple, but we've found a few with variegated petals. Petal color can vary from dark purple to nearly white, and the common violet easily hybridizes with other violet species in the wild.

The pawpaw is a delicious fruit indigenous to this country and was eaten by native Americans and early settlers. The fruit has a distinctive creamy custard texture and a sweet mango banana like flavor. It is excellent when eaten fresh, and delicious in puddings, cookies, pies, ice cream and breads. Pawpaw fruit is reported to be higher in proteins and carbohydrates than apples, peaches and grapes, and it contains high levels of amino acids, vitamins A and C, and many minerals.

Pawpaw ( Asimina triloba ) is the only temperate climate member of the tropical family Annonaceae, which includes the cherimoya, a cultivated fruit popular in the tropics. In the wild it grows from southern Michigan to Georgia and from the Atlantic coast to Kansas. It is generally found in the understory of wooded areas, especially in rich moist bottomlands and along streams. The tree will grow in well drained upland wooded areas, although in these locations the fruit may be less abundant and somewhat smaller.

The pawpaw is deciduous and reaches heights of 20 to 30 feet, occasionally 40 feet. If space and light allows, it will develop into a handsome cone-shaped specimen. The tree tends to send up off-shoots from stolons every few feet, a tendency which diminishes if confined to one trunk. The tree's large, drooping, elliptical leaves give it a tropical appearance. The leaves measure up to 12 inches long and 3 to 4 inches wide. In the autumn they turn a golden yellow.